October, 2022
So we’ve got two Silver in the City rallies behind us now. But they are a small and kind of funky “take over the streets” kind of rally, and we rather like them. But we’ve heard of a pretty large rally even closer to us, in Marion NC. I mean it’s only a little over an hour away and organized by the same fine folks that handle Silver in the City. Friends we have made at the rallies are also going. But it’s a big rally, estimated at 350 rigs….so I guess if we’re going to figure out if we are really rally people, this is the place to do it.
So in late October we head up to Tom Johnson RV in Marion. Because it’s just a huge field there is not the same precision we saw in York, but it seems to work. We choose a spot off to the side, on one of the shorter lanes. As luck would have it, our friends with the beautifully polished Caravel ended up a few spaces away, as well as some other friends we have made are also parked nearby. And in the most unusual of meetings I met a lovely lady named Wendy who lived in Massachusetts, in a small town named Kingston (one of my hometowns) and had married one of my best friends older brother. It’s a funny small world sometimes.
Now one of the things you have to get used to when you own a vintage Airstream, especially a highly polished one, is that you will get a LOT of questions. At gas stations, Home Depot and even more so at Airstream rallies. “What year is it?” 1965… “Is it original?” Mostly, except the mechanicals. “Did it take long to polish it?” You can’t even imagine….. but it is fun, if somewhat exhausting!
There were educational sessions, dinners, entertainment, dancing, socializing around campfires and generally a lot of jolly good fun. We made new friends and reaffirmed other friendships, so it was a lot of fun overall.
So the big question remains unanswered. Are we rally people? And I think the answer is, overall we are not. At least not for the big ones. We do love going to Silver in the City and are going to look for some of the other small, unique rallies. And we might go to Alumalina or even some of the other big rallies again- we didn’t hate it, we had fun. But the big rallies would be a second choice, not our first one. But we reserve the right to change our minds!
